Computing devices with interactive displays are capable of identifying objects that are placed on the display and performing certain associated actions. For example, a phone may be placed on the display and marketing information about the phone may be shown on the display. In another example, an MP3 player on the display is recognized and a user is permitted to drag songs shown on the display to and from the MP3 player. In yet another example, a camera in the vicinity of the display is identified and the display downloads photos from the camera onto the display. Performing the desired associated actions first involves recognizing the object, monitoring its whereabouts and movement, and generating and displaying a visualization representing the recognized object on the display. These are complicated functions that may be time- and labor-intensive to program, which may drive up the costs to develop software.